First Spanish Symposium

By Liz Rush

The Spanish Department called for papers from students to prepare for the First Annual Spanish Symposium, focusing on topics related to language and culture in Spanish-speaking countries, that took place Friday, Nov. 26 2010 at the SLU Madrid campus.

“This is an initiative that parallels symposia in St. Louis and it makes sense to have one here,” said Paul Vita, the Academic Dean who oversees the language departments at SLU Madrid. The symposium took place on campus from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m in various classrooms.

While the school has held symposiums about other topics in the past, this was the first organized by the Spanish Department in hopes of receiving abstracts about cinema, art, literature, linguistics, and pedagogy from both undergraduate and graduate students.

Before the symposium graduate student Caralyn Harmon, who is organizing the symposium, had announced "we don't know how many abstracts students might submit, but because it's the first symposium we will be excited with however many decide to participate." "People should give it a shot," said Harmon. "I don't think any paper will be rejected."

"The symposium is designed to provide an opportunity for students of all levels to share the work they've written for classes", said Anne McCabe, the Chair of Languages and Literature. According to McCabe, the symposium allows undergraduates to get experience if they are considering graduate programs. For students at the graduate level, participation provides an opportunity to present their work in front of a panel.
Prior to the symposium, a workshop was given about how to prepare for and participate in the symposium on Oct. 21 2010.

"We hope it will grow each year," said Harmon.